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Blankenagel S, Eggels S, Frey M, Grill E, Bauer E, Dawid C, Fernie AR, Haberer G, Hammerl R, Barbosa Medeiros D, Ouzunova M, Presterl T, Ruß V, Schäufele R, Schlüter U, Tardieu F, Urbany C, Urzinger S, Weber APM, Schön CC, Avramova V. Natural alleles of the abscisic acid catabolism gene ZmAbh4 modulate water use efficiency and carbon isotope discrimination in maize. Plant Cell 2022; 34:3860-3872. [PMID: 35792867 PMCID: PMC9520448 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koac200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Altering plant water use efficiency (WUE) is a promising approach for achieving sustainable crop production in changing climate scenarios. Here, we show that WUE can be tuned by alleles of a single gene discovered in elite maize (Zea mays) breeding material. Genetic dissection of a genomic region affecting WUE led to the identification of the gene ZmAbh4 as causative for the effect. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ZmAbh4 inactivation increased WUE without growth reductions in well-watered conditions. ZmAbh4 encodes an enzyme that hydroxylates the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) and initiates its catabolism. Stomatal conductance is regulated by ABA and emerged as a major link between variation in WUE and discrimination against the heavy carbon isotope (Δ13C) during photosynthesis in the C4 crop maize. Changes in Δ13C persisted in kernel material, which offers an easy-to-screen proxy for WUE. Our results establish a direct physiological and genetic link between WUE and Δ13C through a single gene with potential applications in maize breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Monika Frey
- Plant Breeding, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Liesel-Beckmann-Straße 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Erwin Grill
- Botany, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Emil-Ramann-Straße 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Eva Bauer
- Campus Office, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Weihenstephaner Steig 22, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Corinna Dawid
- Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Lise-Meitner-Straße 34, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Alisdair R Fernie
- Central Metabolism, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Georg Haberer
- Plant Genome and Systems Biology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Richard Hammerl
- Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Lise-Meitner-Straße 34, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - David Barbosa Medeiros
- Central Metabolism, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | | | | | - Victoria Ruß
- Botany, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Emil-Ramann-Straße 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Rudi Schäufele
- Grassland, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Alte Akademie 12, 85654 Freising, Germany
| | - Urte Schlüter
- Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Science (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Francois Tardieu
- Université de Montpellier, INRAE, Laboratoire d’Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux (LEPSE), Place Viala, F-34060, Montpellier, France
| | - Claude Urbany
- KWS SAAT SE, Grimsehlstraße 31, 37555 Einbeck, Germany
| | - Sebastian Urzinger
- Plant Breeding, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Liesel-Beckmann-Straße 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Andreas P M Weber
- Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Science (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Chris-Carolin Schön
- Plant Breeding, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Liesel-Beckmann-Straße 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
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